Shabbat week	Parsha	Reading	Haphtorah
6 Elul (Sept 10)	Shoftim	Deuteronomy 16:18 - 21:9	Isaiah 51:12 - 52:12
13 Elul (Sept 17)	Ki Tetze	Deuteronomy 21:10 - 25:19	Isaiah 54:1 - 10
20 Elul (Sept 24)	Ki Tavoh	Deuteronomy 26:1 - 29:8	Isaiah 60:1 - 22
27 Elul (Oct 1)	Netzavim	Deuteronomy 29:9 - 30:20	Isaiah 61:10 - 63:9

He made the letter Yud king over action
And He bound a crown to it
And He combined one with another
And with them He formed
Virgo in the Universe
Elul in the Year
And the left hand in the Soul
male and female.
--Sefer Yetzirah

The above quoted passage is from a kabbalistic text called "Sefer Yetzirah", which translates: "Book of Formation". Various passages in this book tell us that there are twelve months of the Jewish calendar, "single" Hebrew letters of the Hebrew alphabet, spiritual "limbs" of the soul, "senses" of the soul, varieties of soul-experience, expressions of the sefirot, zodiac signs, and tribes of Israel.

Gad was the second of Yaakov’s sons, born to Leah’s handmaid, Zilpah:
When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took Zilpah her handmaid, and gave her to Yaakov as wife. And Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid, bore Yaakov a son. And Leah said, “Fortune comes,” and she called his name Gad.
—Genesis 30:9-11

When Yaakov blessed the tribes, of Gad he said:
“Gad, as assailing troop shall assail him, but he shall assail the heel.”
—Genesis 49:19

When Moshe blessed the tribes, of Gad he said:
“Blessed is he that enlarges Gad. He dwells as a lion and tears the arm with the crown of the head. And he provided the first part for himself, because there the portion of a lawgiver was reserved. And he came with the heads of the people. He executed the justice of the Lrd and his judgments with Yisrael.”
—Deuteronomy 33:20-21

Gad’s portion was on the other side of the Jordan. Moshe’s blessing—he provided the first part for himself, because there the portion of a lawgiver was reserved—referred to this choice to stay on the east side of the Jordan, close to the burial place of Moshe Rabbenu. Faithful to their word to Moshe, the fighting men of Gad helped their brothers secure their tribal allotments, but then returned home to guard the borders of Israel.

Another name for the tribal area of Gad is Gilead, famed for its healing balms. Healing flows into the world through Hashem’s mercy, the “soul-experience” associated with Elul. This is the month preceding the High Holidays, is one of introspection and teshuvah (repentance). During this month we hear, “The King is in the field…” and realize it as a propitious time for prayer. We prepare for new beginnings, shedding the old and looking to renewal and healing. But our highest teshuvah is to come to a new knowledge of our King, repenting that we did not know Him yesterday as we know Him now and want to know Him in the future.

Gad’s name and blessings are associated with fortune. The “soul-sense” is action, necessary for actualizing fortune into this world. Yet there is a need for balance, harmony of Tiferet. Moshe admonished the Tribes to keep the Torah, to choose Life and Blessing. This was only possible with the beautiful harmony of keeping the Torah—the very meaning of Tiferet, Truth that our Father Yaakov came to embody. The Haphtorah readings of the month are of Redemption, fortune, not just of this world and time, but of the world to come—the ultimate fortune.

Behold, the Lrd hath proclaimed
Unto the end of the earth:
Say to the daughter of Zion;
“Behold, thy salvation cometh;
Behold, His reward is with Him,
And his recompense before Him.”
And they shall call them The holy people,
The redeemed of the Lrd;
And thou shalt be called Sought out,
A city not forsaken.
—Isaiah 62:11-12

Shabbat shalom,
Miriam